A deranged killer terrorizes the red light district of Times Square in New York City by savagely bumping off lovely young ladies who work at massage parlors located throughout the area.

It's up to veteran detective Rizotti (Spencer) and his more cheerful younger partner O'Mara (Moser) to figure out the maniac's identity and apprehend the psycho before he strikes again.

But things begin to get complicated when O'Mara falls for one of the girls at the massage parlors; will they catch the field before O'Mara loses his new gal pal?

The gritty 1970s sex clubs of New York's Times Square proves to be a perfect backdrop for this grindhouse effort. And while the acting varies from pedestrian to workable, there's an admirable feistiness throughout Massage Parlor Murders which begs acknowledgment.

Moser and Spencer are quite good in the lead cop roles, and the cheap ketchup gore comes in bucketfuls as the girls are sliced, spliced and diced. Meanwhile, the clever "religious" revelation of the killer's motivations hearkens back to the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes serials of the 1940s.